I just bought Emergency Radio for the iPhone. It lets you listen to over 900 live police, fire, EMS and other fun stuff right on your phone. Because I’m a huge dork, I’ve always had a scanner laying around the house, though in the years since I’ve owned one I’ve rarely picked it up. 1) It’s a pain in the ass to use sometimes, but most importantly 2) IT SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME.
Really. I remember listening to the police scanner when I lived in Chicago and was totally blown away at all the crime being committed around my nice, yuppie neighborhood. Beatings, murders, shots fired, suicides, attempted suicides, bum fights, frat fights, robberies, etc. It was just too much to handle. After a couple days of listening in I couldn’t walk outside without totally eyeing everyone down and wondering if they’re going to cut me. I eventually ditched the thing, preferring to live in complete naiveté.
So now, for some reason (I’m a dork!), I have a scanner on my iPhone and I’m listening to the LAPD. Yeah, and everything’s still really scary in the world.
